Picture: Road sign pointing to Sand Dunes at Mesquite Flat, Death Valley National Park, California
I occasionally find a sign that I think will make for a good photo. Signs are a form of communication. Photography is a form of communication. It only goes say that one can often compliment the other. I usually find that pictures of signs work best when I can combine the sign directly with what it relates to in the background.
For instance, in the above photo that I shot last fall, I just liked the obvious nature of the scene. But while I was shooting this image, I couldn’t help but recall one of my all-time favorite sign photos, also taken in Death Valley.
Picture: Driving off road prohibited – Tourist RV tavel Camper stuck in desert rocks after driving offroad next to warning sign, near Badwater, Death Valley National Park, California
I always described this photo as being “too funny, in a kind of sad, semi-unsympathetic way.
And a couple more quick ones:
Picture: Warning sign and thunderstorm clouds over Sacramento River, near Rio Vista, Solano County, California
This one I simply call, “No Fun.”
And finally, from a long while back, this image is a variation on the one that has graced the Newsletter & Blog Sign-up page on my web site. I’ve always loved that image because of what I’ve anthropomorphically referred to as the birds “defiant, yet pleading squawk.” This image, taken one moment earlier has a much different feel, as if the bird is actually reading or perhaps trying to comprehend the sign’s meaning.
Picture: Clarks Nutcracker bird on sign, apparently reading a warning not to feed the animals, Crater Lake National Park, Oregon
If you’ve got any great sign photos posted up on the web somewhere, I’d love to see them. Feel free to include a link in the comments section if you like.
And remember to keep your eyes out for the signs. They’re usually trying to tell you something.
The “Driving Off Road Prohibited” is a classic!
Great post Gary.
I positioned myself at an angle for this one: http://www.rwongphoto.com/RW3131.html
Hey Gary
There’s a billboard along I80 in SD, for a wrecker’s service. I drove by it many times and never stopped for a photo, though I should’ve. It says, with a symbol of a wrecker’s truck beside it:
“Bob’s Toe Service”.
Cheers
Carl
I love signs, esp the ones that create situations like the ones above. Or like 2 signs combined: left is “All directions”, right is “Other directions”. Too bad I dont have a picture of that.
Here’s a way to (ab)use a sign: http://www.flickr.com/photos/illogical42/451316630/
Hi Gary – As always, really like reading your article. Since you asked, I posted a quick light box with seven different signs that I have found interesting – not that they rival what you have with the animals or the RV.
http://www.powderhillphotography.com/lightbox/signs/index.html
I’ll leave it acrtive a few days. Hope you enjoy it. Have a great week, Drake
Gary, great post! My favorite sign – long gone now and I have no photograph – was along a road in the New Almaden area south of San Jose. It said:
“1/4 mile ahead”
That’s it.
Dan
I don’t mean to promote vandalism, but I always joked w/ my family that someone needed to “adjust” the exit sign where my S-I-L lived in the Sierra foothills. The exit sign on Hwy 50 read “Bass Lake Road”. I always thought someone needed to ‘remove’ the “B” and the “L”.
Gary, another one that you might already know about. In the eastern Sierra there is a “fish creek” that apparently has north and south forks. There used to be a sign at the turn-off from 395 to the north fork that indicated: “No Fish Creek.”
(I don’t recall if there was also a “So Fish Creek” sign.)
Unfortunately, I think they finally changed it.
Dan